This anonymous interview is with a public It’s complicated librarian who has been a hiring manager and a member of a hiring or search committee a human resources professional. This person hires the following types of LIS professionals:
This librarian works at a library with 10-50 staff members in an urban area in the Midwestern US .
Approximately how many people applied for the last librarian (or other professional level) job at your workplace?
√ 25 or fewer
Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?
√ more than 75 %
And how would you define “hirable”?
Qualified for the position, technologically literate, and exceptional people skills — an MLS isn’t an absolute necessity, but may be required if you want to move up.
How are applications evaluated, and by whom?
Hiring committee consists of the library director and the head of the circulation department.
What is the most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?
Did not meet requirements posted in the job.
Do you (or does your library) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?
√ No
What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve his/her/their hirability?
Learn about the position and about our workplace. Don’t come in expecting me to hand you the job just because you ‘like books’.
I want to hire someone who is
passionate.
How many staff members are at your library/organization?
√ 10-50
How many permanent, full time librarian (or other professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ Other: 0
How many permanent, full time para-professional (or other non-professional level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?
√ 3-4
Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time librarian positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?
√ There are fewer positions
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?
√ Yes
Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with para-professional workers over the past decade?
√ Yes
Does your workplace require experience for entry-level professional positions? If so, is it an official requirement or just what happens in practice?
Yes, it’s an official requirement.
Is librarianship a dying profession?
√ No
Why or why not?
People will always need libraries for the sheer amount of information and resources that are available to through them.
Do you hire librarians? Take this survey: http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibjobmarketsurvey or take other Hiring Librarians surveys.
For some context, look at the most recent summary of responses.
Hiring Librarians 